With the world of sports taking a collective pause to stand up against social injustice, bettors are left wondering what to do with their downtime. Ever since the return of major sports in late July, we've been inundated with action on a daily basis. For a month straight, it has been a rollercoaster of non-stop sweats starting at noon and going until midnight. Suddenly, we once again find ourselves searching for action.
One benefit from this pause is the ability to reassess the futures market and look for value.
When betting futures, one important variable to remember is liquidity. Futures should be handled differently from your daily individual betting. You should be extra selective and make sure not to bet too many futures so that you tie up your bankroll on a bunch of long term plays that will take weeks or months to cash. You would hate to bet so many futures that you leave yourself without enough money to spend when games return. Instead, look at futures as a way to pick your spots and use them as a nice cherry on top to pad your bankroll.
The other advantage to betting futures is setting yourself up for a hedging opportunity. For example, if you bet the Celtics to win the NBA title, of course you are rooting for Boston to win it all. However, in reality you only need them to make it to the Eastern Conference finals or NBA finals. That way you can start to hedge your bets by betting the opponent in order to guarantee yourself a profit.
Here are the latest odds across the NBA and NHL at BetMGM.
NBA
Series Prices
Nuggets + 280 vs Jazz -358
(Utah leads 3-2)
Clippers -2500 vs Mavs + 1200
(Los Angeles leads 3-2)
Raptors -150 vs Celtics + 125
(yet to begin)
Eastern Conference Winner
Bucks -121
Raptors + 340
Celtics + 420
Heat + 700
Magic + 50000
Western Conference Winner
Lakers + 125
Clippers + 140
Rockets + 800
Nuggets, Jazz + 2200
Thunder + 2800
Mavericks + 3500
Trail Blazers + 10000
NBA Championship
Lakers, Bucks + 280
Clippers + 300
Raptors + 800
Celtics + 1000
Rockets + 1400
Heat + 1600
Mavs, Nuggets, Jazz + 4000
Thunder + 5000
Blazers + 20000
NHL
Series Prices
Lightning -250 vs Bruins + 200
(Tampa leads 2-1)
Stars -154 vs Avalanche + 130
(Dallas leads 2-1)
Knights -304 vs Canucks + 250
(Series tied 1-1)
Flyers -115 vs Islanders -106
(Series tied 1-1)
Eastern Conference
Lightning + 130
Flyers + 320
Bruins + 360
Islanders + 440
Western Conference
Golden Knights -106
Stars + 320
Avalanche + 330
Canucks + 900
Stanley Cup Champion
Golden Knights + 275
Lightning + 350
Stars + 700
Avalanche, Flyers + 725
Bruins + 800
Islanders + 950
Canucks + 1900